Road Atlanta: Risi-Krohn Ferrari preview

Risi-Krohn Ferrari Back for 10th Annual Petit Le Mans
Krohn Racing and Risi Competizione are back together for the 10th Annual
Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta this Saturday, October 6th. The two
Houston, Texas-based racing entities joined ...

Krohn Racing and Risi Competizione are back together for the 10th Annual
Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta this Saturday, October 6th. The two
Houston, Texas-based racing entities joined forces earlier this year to
run five races, including the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Houston Grand
Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Petit Le Mans and the American Le
Mans Series (ALMS) finale at Laguna Seca.

The two-car Daytona Prototype Krohn Racing team recently finished fourth
and 12th in the 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Krohn was awarded
with the prestigious Jim Trueman Award for the top executive racer of
the Series.

The Risi-Krohn Ferrari has experienced success in its first three races
this year with a ninth-place finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring and a Top
Ten finish in it's hometown of Houston. The real triumph for the new
team was their second-place finish at the 75th running of the 24 Hours
of Le Mans in Le Mans, France.

After your success at Le Mans, are you ready to get back into the
Ferrari 430 GT for Petit Le Mans?

"The Ferrari 430 GT is so fun to drive that I just can't wait to drive
it again! Very well balanced with good power and great brakes makes it a
really good package, coupled with an outstanding team!

You have some history of driving at Road Atlanta -- it is where you got
your start with the Panoz Series. What do you enjoy about the circuit?

"Road Atlanta has everything in a road course. It's got nice
straightaways, fast turns left and right, slow turns left and right,
high speed esses, and plenty of elevation change with blind cornering as
well!Throw in a bit of weather and it is certainly a challenge for any
driver.For me, it's like seeing a friend again."

Petit Le Mans is another long endurance race in the Ferrari -- 1000K or
10 hours. Talk about the preparation and dependability of the Risi/Krohn
Ferrari 430 GT?

"The prep and dependability for this car is spectacular, as we proved
at Le Mans. We need to stay on the track and be patient, stay on the
lead lap and go racing for the last couple of hours. Since racing isn't
my normal day job, endurance racing is better suited for me as I get to
have some help from some world class drivers, as well as lap times that
are not typical of sprint races. However, Petit Le Mans is really more
of a sprint race when compared to a 24-hour race. But at the 12 Hours of
Sebring this year, it was obvious that all the teams were treating it as
a sprint race, so I expect to see the same for Petit. Having said all
that, endurance racing is the most fun for me as I get to be in the car
so much more!"

After your success at Le Mans, are you ready to get back into the
Ferrari 430 GT for Petit Le Mans?

"Yes, definitely ready to get back in the Risi-Krohn Ferrari 430 GT. We
had a fantastic run at Le Mans. I don't see any reason why we can't be
competitive at Petit. We won't have Colin Braun with us this weekend
but we'll have Darren Turner. I don't think that will hurt our efforts
at all because Darren has more experience than Colin overall and he's
older and more experienced. He actually won Petit Le Mans last year with
Prodrive in the Aston Martin. I think we will have a really good run and
I'm really looking forward to getting back in it."J Road Atlanta is your
home track -- talk about the benefits of race at home and your favorite
part of the Road Atlanta circuit.

"Yes, it's a home track because I live close to Road Atlanta so it's as
much of a home track as anywhere. I feel pretty much at home anywhere
I go if I've been there once before. I don't truly consider any track
to have a home advantage or disadvantage. I see Road Atlanta as a very
challenging, exciting, all around track for a race car driver that can
handle different scenarios. I think the advantage I may have is that I
get to sleep in my own bed and eat home cooking. That's probably the
advantage. As far as the race, I don't think there's going to be any
advantage other than that.b^0x001cI really enjoy the esses on top of the
hill -- from turn three down to turn five. It reminds me very much of
Donnington Park, which is probably one of my favorite track in the world
to race on. I've had a lot of success as well in the past there. At turn
one at Donnington, you have these really long, sweeping esses. It's a
little tighter here at Road Atlanta, but it's still the same feeling
where you go really fast and flat out and you really trust the set-up
and the car to hold on. I think that's my favorite part of the Road
Atlanta race track."J You've competed in about 8 of 9 Petit Le Mans --
how do you like the race?

"I certainly am a big fan of the American Le Mans Series and I think
it's a great series. I think Petit Le Mans was something that Dr. Panoz
created from being a big sports car fan. Although this will only be
the tenth year anniversary, I think this race has really earned its
respect from the world-class drivers because it is a special event.
After Le Mans and Sebring, it is probably the best-attended sports car
race in the world. It's a very exciting race to come to as a driver
each year. There seems to be a crowd here that is very knowledgeable
about sports car racing and the drivers and the cars. That makes it
even more exciting for us driver because people come up and ask very
intelligent questions. It's actually exciting to answer those questions.
People really have a passion for the sport. That's a big tribute to Dr.
Panoz for the past ten years. I've been very fortunate to be a part of
it almost every race since then. From one year to another, the race
keeps getting bigger and bigger, with more manufacturers involved, and
more and more top-notch drivers competing that want to race in Petit Le
Mans because they considered it to be one of the biggest races in the
world."J You have a new co-driver, Darren Turner. Your thoughts?

"As far as Darren goes, I don't really know him personally. Obviously
I've heard of him and seen a lot of him because he's been very
successful in Europe. He obviously won Le Mans this year and Petit Le
Mans last year. To me, it will be real exciting to have Darren as a
teammate. He is considered a world-class driver and one of the best in
this type of racing. For me, who has been doing this for quite a while,
it is always exciting to get paired up with other pure professionals
that, whether I've met them or not, their results speaks for itself. I
can't wait to meet him and get in the car together and hopefully go out
and have a very successful Petit Le Mans."

Talk about the preparation and dependability of the Risi/Krohn Ferrari
430 GT at an endurance race like Petit Le Mans.

"I think they've shown all year, especially at Le Mans, that the car
ran flawless the whole 24 hours. It didn't really have any mechanical
issues. The only issues were the weather, with the rain and drying
track, but mechanically the car was perfectly prepared. Michelotto did a
perfect job for the whole race. Michelin did a great job giving us the
right tires at the right time. I don't even think about that, which is
fantastic as a driver if you can take the whole reliability issues out
of the equation and just focus on your driving. You don't have to worry
about car's reliability and you can just work with your other co-drivers
on driving and getting the car right. I can't say enough about the
Risi-Krohn crew that prepared this car. They worked really hard and that
shows with the results, even with the sister car, which is leading the
championship this year. I think that says it all. It's a first class
team and the car results proved it this year."Darren Turner, driver of
the No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari 430 GT:

How do you like the Road Atlanta circuit?

"I've always really enjoyed Petit Le Mans and the Road Atlanta track is
very challenging and technical, and you have to be brave around there
to do well -- my favorite kind of track! If you lack commitment you
lose speed, simple as that. This will be my third Petit Le Mans and I
think that Road Atlanta is one of the hardest tracks I have had to learn
in North America. It's fast, hilly and with several blind crests and
corners and it takes a little time to really get into it. Actually, it's
good to go to a circuit that makes you concentrate; you have to show
this track respect, so it's very rewarding when you get a lap right."Are
you looking forward to driving the Ferrari 430 with Risi/Krohn?

"Risi Competizione and Krohn Racing will be my third Ferrari team this
year and I'm really looking forward to the experience as they obviously
have a proven record of success. I didn't expect to be driving with
Ferrari at the start of the year, but I will end up doing seven races in
the 430 GT and now feel quite at home. It's very fast and competitive
and also one of those cars which needs a certain type of driving style
to get the best out of it. The more you drive the F430, the faster you
will get."

You have had previous success at Petit Le Mans, tell us what that means
to you.

"I was lucky enough to win Petit Le Mans last year (in GT1) and there's
always a fantastic atmosphere which will no doubt be even better this
year because of the 10th anniversary. It's a great race to win and,
along with Sebring, one of the two major ALMS racing events of the year.
Let's hope we have as good a race as Tracy and Nic did at Le Mans this
year!"

The 10th Annual Petit Le Mans race is scheduled to start at 11:15 am ET.
SPEED TV will provide live coverage from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm and again
from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 pm.